BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the pattern of occult cervical lymph node metastasis among patients with clinically N0 salivary gland carcinoma. METHODS: One hundred nineteen patients underwent primary surgery and ipsilateral neck dissection for clinically N0 carcinomas of the major and minor salivary glands. Eighty patients (67%) had parotid tumors. Distribution of T classification was: T1 (18%), T2 (28%), T3 (23%), and T4 (32%). RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (21%) had pathological cervical disease. The incidence was highest among patients with adenocarcinoma (35%) and high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma (35%). The most common site of cervical lymph node metastasis was level II (71%), followed by level III (15%), and level IB (8%). On multivariate analysis, histological subtype was independently predictive of occult pathological lymph node metastasis (p < .001). CONCLUSION: The likelihood of occult cervical lymph node metastasis for patients with salivary gland carcinoma is driven predominantly by histological subtype. Implications for elective neck irradiation are discussed.
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the pattern of occult cervical lymph node metastasis among patients with clinically N0 salivary gland carcinoma. METHODS: One hundred nineteen patients underwent primary surgery and ipsilateral neck dissection for clinically N0 carcinomas of the major and minor salivary glands. Eighty patients (67%) had parotid tumors. Distribution of T classification was: T1 (18%), T2 (28%), T3 (23%), and T4 (32%). RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (21%) had pathological cervical disease. The incidence was highest among patients with adenocarcinoma (35%) and high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma (35%). The most common site of cervical lymph node metastasis was level II (71%), followed by level III (15%), and level IB (8%). On multivariate analysis, histological subtype was independently predictive of occult pathological lymph node metastasis (p < .001). CONCLUSION: The likelihood of occult cervical lymph node metastasis for patients with salivary gland carcinoma is driven predominantly by histological subtype. Implications for elective neck irradiation are discussed.
Authors: A D Jensen; M Poulakis; V Vanoni; M Uhl; N Chaudhri; P A Federspil; K Freier; J Krauss; J Debus Journal: Radiat Oncol Date: 2016-07-07 Impact factor: 3.481